Hi Casey, so glad to hear you are the happy owner of a new k-pouch! Your excitement is certainly understandable after what you've been through.
I echo a lot of what has been said above regarding "travel" items. I have a couple cute LeSportSac toiletry bags all ready to go that I drop in my purse if I am going to "go" when I am out. Items include: (2) 30 Fr Catheters (If I can't get to a sink discreetly, I may have to toss one.) (2) Allevyn Life silicone bandages (love these -- great for sensitive skin while being absorbent, cute and comfortable! Highly recommend if covered by insurance, otherwise expensive.) (2+) Surgilube 3g packets. (2+) Ziplock sandwich bags (for wet items.)
I also include a couple latex gloves, poopurri spray, several folded up pieces of Kleenex hand towels, travel size liquid soap, and an empty fleet enema bottle. In general, I pack assuming the bathroom I end up in will be missing the expected soap, paper or water. I usually carry a water bottle everywhere, so can always use that if needed too. I pretty much have to irrigate every time I intubate, but I hear that is not the case for everyone.
I tried a lot of options for covering the stoma before settling on the Allevyn "flower" bandages. I have no idea how others get along with bandaids or sanitary napkins, etc., taped to their waistbands -- I'd be a mess. And I used to be super picky about sanitizing catheters and syringes after every use, but the reality is that you can just wash them out at the same time as you do your hands and with the same soap. My insurance allows for more catheters than I need so I just toss them when they get funky.
As for foods, the on-going concern even after a year is making sure what I eat can be easily digested or fit through the catheter holes if undigested. So this precludes eating a lot of thick meat at once or fiberous foods, unless I am sure I can chew them thoroughly enough. I have found that things like leafy greens and potato skins are just never good. Watching this, for me, has also helped with blockages and digestion discomfort as well.
I love sushi, but I pay for it when I eat it -- it runs straight through me and I have a lot of difficulty getting all the seaweed/nori out. My husband is hispanic, so I eat/make a lot of Mexican food -- even though the corn in masa is all ground up, anything made with it (tortillas, tamales) gives me super thick output that takes forever even with irrigation. Most candy, chocolate and sweets are going to be fine (watch out for dried fruits, coconut or nuts) -- but as Janet mentioned, a lot of sugar is bad for inflammation (and gaining too much weight, which is bad for the koch valve.)
As for soda, since you already had a "bag" my guess is that you've already dealt with gas problems. The same goes for the K-pouch; whatever goes in can't come out until you intubate. For me this means little to no carbonation or sulfur-containing foods. But I understand everyone is a little different with this too.
Looking forward to hearing how you're doing moving forward -- Pretty soon you'll be giving us tips! Best wishes and God bless, Jennifer